A Short History of Laos: The Land in BetweenAllen & Unwin, 2002 - 251 pages Laos, perhaps the least known country in mainland Southeast Asia, stands at the region's crossroads. This small land in between is surrounded by China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma - countries that, in pre-modern times, provided Lao kings with a field for territorial expansion. But more often, Laos has been a bridge between these powerful neighbours, and an arena in which they and their allies have interfered. |
Contents
Le Laos Français | 39 |
The Royal Lao Government | 93 |
War and the destruction of the RLG | 145 |
The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic | 176 |
Laos in the modern world | 225 |
Notes | 237 |
Index | 245 |
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Common terms and phrases
administration American Angkor army Ayudhya Bangkok became began Boun Oum Buddhist Cambodia centre century Champasak Chao Anou China Chinese claims colonial communist corruption coup early economic elite ethnic Fa Ngum forces foreign France French Grant Evans groups Hmong Houaphan Indochina Katay Kaysone Khmer Khorat Plateau King Sisavangvong kingdom Kong Lan Na Lan Xang Lao culture Lao Government Lao Issara Lao nationalism Lao politics leaders lowland LPDR LPRP Luang Phrabang mandala Mekong military modern monarchy mountains muang nationalist neutralist Ngum NLHX North Vietnamese northern opium organisation Paksé Party Pathet Lao peasants Phetsarath phu nyai Phuan Plain of Jars population Prime Minister provinces refugees regime region revolt ritual role Savang Vatthana Savannakhet Siam Siamese social society soldiers Souphanouvong Southeast Asia Souvanna Phouma Thai Thailand Touby trade traditional troops Vang Pao Vientiane Viet Minh Vietnam Vietnamese villages Xiang Khoang
Popular passages
Page 109 - Our greatest danger of Communist subversion arises from the bad use of foreign aid we receive ... It enriches a minority outrageously while the mass of the population remains as poor as ever . . . Laos maintains an army of 30,000 men, including the police force.
Page 119 - He understood nothing about Asia and nothing about Laos. The Assistant Secretary of State is the most nefarious and reprehensible of men. He is the ignominious architect of the disastrous American policy towards Laos.
Page 122 - To be anti-American does not mean to be pro-Communist. When we say we are antiAmerican, we are against the American policies of the moment.
Page 237 - La naissance du monde selon les traditions Lao: le mythe de Khun Bulom, in Charles Archaimbault, 1973, Structures religieuses Lao (Rites et mythes), Vientiane: Vithagna, pp.
Page 131 - LPLA captain (A-20), who had gone through three cycles of training in rather than a Soviet-style Marxism or "revisionism." The former LPLA captain recounted the lessons he learned, reiterating the theme we had heard from many others: I was repeatedly told that I was the owner of Laos. Laos is a beautiful country, with an abundance of rivers and streams and natural resources. The Lao people could not do anything to use these resources because of the aggression and oppression of foreign countries....
Page 116 - ... like-minded officers and men and to ready himself and the battalion for just such an opportunity as he had now seized. Two days after the coup, at a public rally, Kong Le called for an end to the war of Lao against Lao; an end to corruption; and an end to foreign domination. "In my experience," he said, "many past Lao governments have told us they wished to follow a neutral course, but they never did so. My group and I decided to sacrifice everything, even our lives, in order to bring neutrality...
Page 242 - ... the open air.' 9. Robertson Scott, op. cit., p. 142. quoting the view of Sir Henry Rew, who among many other public appointments and offices was Deputy-Chairman of the Central Agricultural Wages Board, 1917-21. 10. ibid., p. ix. 11. PP 1924 (Cmd. 2145), vol. VII. Agricultural Tribunal, p. 35. 12. E. Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen. The Modernization of Rural France. 1870-1914. Chatto and Windus, 1977, pp. 140-1, 154. For Britain, see, inter alia, PP 1919 (Cmd. 504), vol. XXVI. Ministry of National...
Page 131 - Map's comparisons the Vietnamese military forces invariably were far superior to the Lao, as in the following characteristic judgment : The Vietnamese are disciplined and well organized. The Lao are not. Sometimes the Lao troops will say frankly that they want to defect or that they don't want to work. Their chiefs will often just listen and smile. If that happened in a Vietnamese unit -- watch out. If there were a Vietnamese unit operating in Laos, and someone said he wanted to defect, a meeting...
Page 148 - But because of my great fear of the never-ending gunfire, I decided to leave my fields and gardens, the various animals, all my fruit trees, and bring only my body here. But when the plane took off and I looked down at my village, I was immediately so homesick for my village, my birthplace, for the region where I had lived my life day by day.39 148 Thereafter the Plain of Jars became a 'free fire' zone, where B-52s flew their first devastating bombing raids.